Annunciator apparatus.



PATENTED AUG. 14, 1906.

F. J. BRINB. ANN-UNOIATOR APPARATUS.

APPLIOATION FILED DEO.11. 1905.

- witnesses Inventor.

Tn: ucmus PETERS cm, wnsnmcron, n. c

UNITED STATES PATENT-- .QFFICE.

FRANCIS 7 J. BRINE, OFSOMERVILEE, MASSACHUSETTS.

AN-N UN'CI ATOR A PPARATU.

i-No: 828,376.

Specification of Letters EE'atent.

Patented Augt 14, 1906.

Application filed December 11, 1905. SeriaLNo. 291,229.

10.-all whomit may concern:

Beit. known that I, FRANOIS-J..BRINE,.2L

. citizen of the United States, residing at Som- --erville, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have-invented new and .iuseful Improvements. in Annunciator Apparatus, of which. the following is a spec1fication.

Thisinvention relates to an annunciator apparatus WlllOll combines means by whlch wPQI'SOIlS may be notified. of an event orally .and means bywhich they may. be notified visually.

The objects of this invention are, first, to providea changeable or movable sign within .acarand means for conveying-spoken .an-

. changeable or movable sign withina car and means for conveying spoken announcements to .various parts ofsaid car so constructed and arrangedthat. the conductor or brake- ;man making the announcement cannot '.make himself heardwithin said car without having previously changed said sign.

The invention consists in the combination andarrangement of parts set forth in the following specification and particularly pointed out in the claims thereof.

Referring to the drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, partly in elevation, of a car, showing my improved annunciator ape .paratus shown therewith, said car being partly broken away. Fig. 2 is a section,

,partly in elevation, on line 22 of Fig. 1 look- .ing to the right in said figure. Fig. 3-is adetallsection, partly in elevation, on line 3 3 of Fig. 2 looking. toward the left in said figure. Fig. 4 is a detail elevation of the movable sign, .partly broken away, the oscillatory mouthpiece .and mechanism operatively connecting said sign to said mouthpiece.

. Fig. 5 is. a detail section, partly broken away,

. on line of Fig. .3 looking toward the right -phones 13,14, 55.

in said. figure. Fig. 6 is .a detail section on linen6 f. Fig. 4 looking to the right in said figure.

Inthe drawings,'10 is a car-body of any usual constructionprovided with a vestibule 1 1.

12 is a speaking-tube provided with megaand 15. 16 is a mouthpiece pivoted to a shaft. 17,

-. tively,

. position,

said shaft journaled to rotate in suitable bearings on the car-body. l0.

A cylindrical valve-casing .18, connected to the speaking-tube 12,. is provided. with an orifice 19..and.,a segmental valve,.20, formed integralwith the. mouthpiece. 1.6,..is adapted toopen and to close: the orifice 19when said mouthpiece is rocked upon theshaft 17. A hub 21. of the mouthpiece ,16 is provided .with a ratchet 22, formed integral therewith. A sign-casing 23 is. mounted. .upon. thelefthand end of the. carsbody 11. and is, provided with. shafts 24..and.25, each provided with suitable: bearings .at. opposite ends, respec- 26 is fast to the shaft.24,.and:a Similar roill:27 is mounted upon the shaft25. The-roll 27. is preferably providedtwith teeth 28,. which are .adapted to engage an endless ;belt..29, .said endless belt-extending aroundand connect-.

ing the rolls26 and .27.

vThe endless belt 29. is provided .withaplurality .of signs lettered .upon the exterior surface. thereof, said signs adapted. to --register one ata time with. anopening .30 in the signcasing'23. A sign-casing31,,Iidentical in construction with the sign-casing28, is provided with shafts 32 and33, journaled to rotatelin suitable .bearings in said casing. ".The. signcasing .31. is provided withrolls and .an-endless belt identical in construction. with those within the sign-casing23. .The shaft ;25.is provided with a bevel-pinion .34 fast thereto and meshing into a bevel-gear35, said bevelgear provided with a bushing36 integral.

of said sign-casing. A roller pulley,

therewith, said bushingadapted to rotate .in

a suitable bearing in the earl-body. 10.

A ratchet .37, surrounding. the shaft 17, is

adapted to engage. the ratchet22 and is .normally held. in engagementwith the ratchet 22 by a helical compression-spring 38. '.The ratchet .37. is held in afixed relation radially to the shaft 17 bya pin, 39 passing throu'ghthe shaft 17 and engaging the slot J40 .in -.said ratchet, said slot permitting. a longitudinal movement of said ratchet with relation to the ratchet .22. A helical extension-spring .41, connectedat one end to thecar-body 10,.and at the other end to the mouthpiece. 16, is adapted to normally hold said mouthpiece .in the positionshown indotted lines in'.-'-Fig.- -'2.

When the mouthpiece. 16 is in .its normal segmental valve, 20. covers ,the orifice 19 .of

the valve-casing 18 ,..and whenin said ,po'sias shown in dotted lines, Fig.2, a

, mouthpiece 16 are such that each time that tion said valve is adapted to prevent soundwaves from passing through the speakingtube 12 into the car. When said mouthpiece is swung to the position shown in full lines in said figure, the valve 20 uncovers the orifice 19. When the mouthpiece 16 is swung from its normal position to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 2, the ratchet 22, carried by said mouthpiece, acts to engage the ratchet 37 and rotate said ratchet 37, together with the mechanism hereinbefore described connected to said ratchet 37, a portion of a rotation.

When the mouthpiece 16 is released, the spring 41 acts to move said mouthpiece to its normal position, the ratchet 22 turning backward on the ratchet 37 during said movement. The ratio of the bevel-pinion 34 to the bevelgear 35, the spacing of the signs upon the endless belt 29, and the movement of the the mouthpiece 16 is swung from the position shown in dotted lines, Fig. 2, to the position shown in full lines, Fig. 2, the belt29 is moved the proper distance to bring the next I sign upon said belt into register with the opening 30 in the sign-casing 23.

A mouthpiece 42, connected to the speaking-tube 12 and identical in construction with the mouthpiece 16, is connected by mechanism identical with the mechanism 'hereinbefore described to an endless belt (not shown) contained within the belt-casing The shaft 25 and the endless belt 29 may be moved in the direction of the arrow in Fig. 6 by a crank 43, fast to said shaft. The shaft 17 is provided with a bevel-gear 44, fast thereto, meshing into a bevel-pinion 45, fast to the shaft 33, and it will be seen that all movements of the shaft 25 will be communicated, through the bevel-gears 34 and 35, the shaft 17, and the bevel-gears 44 and 45, to

' the shaft 33, thereby moving both of the end 1 less belts in unison.

The operation isas follows: A conductor or brakeman desiring to announce a station I .to the passengers Within the car grasps the mouthpiece 16, swinging it from the position shown in dotted lines,

Fig. 2, to the position shown in full lines, Fig. 3, thereby moving the j endless belt 29 and bringing the name of said station into view behind the orifice 30, also uncovering the orifice 19 in a manner hereinbefore described. He then calls into the mouthpiece 16 the name of the station which the car is approaching and the sounds are conveyed through the speaking-tube 12 to the megaphones 13, 14, and 15, said megaphonesdirecting said sounds in the direction indicated by the arrows a, b, and 0, respectively. It will thus be seen that the sound-waves caused by the spoken announcement will be concentrated and that a considerable volume of sound will be delivered through each of the megaphones 13, 14, and 15 and that passengers in all parts of the car will be able to clearly understand the words spoken by the brakeman or conductor. The signs will serve to show the name of the station to any persons who for any reason may not have heard the annoucement of said station.

The mouthpiece 16 when in its normal po sition is so placed as to be considerably above the height of an average mans mouth, so that the conductor or brakeman is obliged to swing said mouthpiece into the position shown in full lines, Fig. 2, in order that he may speak into said mouthpiece, thus moving the endlesss belt 29 and brin ing the next sign thereon into view behind the opening 30. The announcement may be made through either the mouthpiece 16 or the mouthpiece 42; but it is neither necessary nor. desirable that the announcement should be made through both at the same time.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire by Letters Patent to secure, is 4 1. An annunciator apparatus, comprising in its construction, a speaking-tube, a movable mouthpiece therefor, a megaphone connected to said speaking-tube, and a changeable sign adapted to be operated by moving said mouthpiece.

2. An annunciator apparatus, comprising in its construction, a speaking tube, two movable mouthpieces therefor, a megaphone located intermediate said mouthpieces, and a changeable sign adapted to be operated by moving one of said mouthpieces.

3. An annunciator apparatus, comprising in its construction, a speaking-tube, two mouthpieces therefor, a lurality of megaphones located intermediate said mouthpieces, and a plurality of changeable signs operatively connected to each other and to said mouthpieces.

4. An annunciator apparatus, comprising in its construction, a speaking-tube, a movable mouthpiece therefor, a megaphone connected to said speaking-tube, a valve located intermediate said mouthpiece and said megaphone adapted to be opened by moving said mouthpiece, and a changeable sign adapted to be operated by the movement of said mouthpiece simultaneously with the opening of said valve.

5. An annunciator apparatus, comprising in its construction, a speaking-tube, a movable mouthpiece therefor, a megaphone connected to said speaking-tube, a valve located intermediate said mouthpiece and said megaphone adapted to be opened by moving said mouthpiece, a changeable sign adapted to be operated by the movement of said mouthpiece simultaneously with the opening of said valve, and a clutch interposed between said valve and said sign.

6. An annunciator apparatus, comprising in its construction, a speaking-tube, an oscil latory mouthpiece therefor, a megaphoneconnected to said speaking-tube, a valve located intermediate said mouthpiece and said megaphone adapted to be opened by oscillating said mouthpiece, and a changeable sign adapted to be operated by oscillating said mouthpiece.

7. An annunciator apparatus, comprising in its construction, a speaking-tube, an oscillatory mouthpiece therefor, a megaphone connected to said speaking-tube, a valve located intermediate said mouthpiece and said megaphone adapted to be opened by oscillating said mouthpiece, and a plurality of changeable signs operatively connected to each other and to said mouthpiece.

8. An annunciator apparatus, comprising in its construction, a speaking-tube, and an ocillatory mouthpiece therefor,a megaphone connected to said speaking-tube, a valve ocated intermediate said mouthpiece and 7 said megaphone adapted to be opened by oscillating said mouthpiece, an endless belt carried by rotatable pulleys, and mechanism operatively connecting said mouthpiece and one of said pulleys whereby said belt may be moved.

9. An annunciator apparatus, comprising in its construction, a speaking-tube, an oscillatory mouthpiece therefor, a megaphone connected to said speaking-tube, a valve located intermediate said mouthpiece and said megaphone adapted to be opened by oscil-- lating said mouthpiece, a plurality of endless belts carried by pulleys operatively connected to each other, and mechanism operatively connecting said mouthpiece and one of said pulleys whereby said belts may be moved.

10. An annunciator apparatus, comprising in its construction, a speaking-tube, an oscillatory mouthpiece therefor, a megaphone connected to said speaking-tube, a valve located intermediate said mouthpiece and said megaphone adapted to be opened by oscillating said mouthpiece, a movable sign, and mechanism connecting said mouthpiece and said movable sign whereby said sign may be moved. 7

11. An annunciator apparatus, comprising in its construction, a speaking-tube, an oscillatory mouthpiece therefor, a megaphone connected to said speaking-tube, a valve located intermediate said mouthpiece and said megaphone adapted to be opened by oscillating said mouthpiece, a plurality of movable signs operatively connected to each other, and mechanism connecting said mouthpiece and one of said movable signs whereby said signs may be moved.

12. An annunciator apparatus, comprising in its construction, a speaking-tube, a movable mouthpiece therefor, a plurality of megaphones connected to said speaking-tube, a valve located intermediate said mouthpiece and said megaphones adapted to be opened by moving said mouthpiece, and a changeable sign adapted to be operated by the movement of said mouthpiece simultaneously with the opening of said valve.

13. An annunciator apparatus, comprising in its construction, a speaking-tube, an oscillatory mouthpiece therefor, a plurality of megaphones connected to said speaking-tube, a valve located intermediate said mouthpiece and said megaphones adapted to be opened by moving said mouthpiece, a ratchet fast to said mouthpiece, a movable sign, and a pawl operatively connected to said sign and adapted to engage said ratchet.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANCIS J. BRINE. Witnesses:

CHARLES S. GooDING. ANNIE J. DAILEY. 

